chicken of the woods (English)

Where does "chicken of the woods" come from?

The English noun 'chicken of the woods' derives its name directly from its chicken-like taste and woodland habitat[1].

Full etymology tree

• chicken of the woods (English), 'Any edible mushroom of the Laetiporus genus.'
  • compound chicken (English), 'A domesticated subspecies of red junglefowl (Gallus gallus domesticus).'
  • compound of (English), 'Forming the "objective genitive".'
  • compound the (English), 'Used before a noun phrase, including a simple noun'
  • compound woods (English), 'plural of wood'

Sources

1. chicken of the woods (English) - Wiktionary

Updated August 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris